I'm collecting aid gear so I can go screw around in a remote canyon with a gold pan. Yeah, yeah... I know.
The question is: What am I missing here? I didn't put in the larger cams or the nuts and hexes. In terms of pins, did I miss anything I might really want?

beginning aid rack Submitted By: johnnyrig on Jan 12, 2013

daisies, funkness, nuts, cams, a shitload of biners or draws, big plush harnesses, kneepads

i'm almost ashamed to be contributing to this madness. if you're the same dude I'm thinking of from a past thread...

hmm maybe you aren't that dude. my apologies. good luck on your quest.

Daisies. Check. Don't have those. No knee pads. No funkness. Also, no hooks.

I do have cams. Two sets of Friends and a set of Camalots from .4 to 6. Three sets of BD nuts, 1-11. Also have about 35 loose biners, 6 draws, quite a few hand-tied draws of various lengths. I'm clearly going to have to pick and choose what goes with me, as it would be damn hard to carry it all.

So, um, climbing big walls for days on end is ok; but a guy wants to go explore a canyon on the weekend is madness, eh? I guess adventure is not your gig. Or maybe it is.

Really, it's an adventure. I would like to do more than just go up for the sake of going up. Climbing is not an end to a means by itself. I want to do more.

Thanks for the input!

You need an adjustable fi-fi hook or some adjustable daisies--makes things a whole lot easier.

Be sure you let someone know where to look for you when you don't get back on time.

They will know exactly where to look. I don't think it would help them get there though.

After messing around and going some 20 feet or so (I know, epic right?) today on some local decomposing choss, I see where the adjustable fifi/daisy would come in handy. First time. God help me if I have to climb aid, 'cause that 20ft took about an hour.

No worries, I plan to practice more before I go. Just trying to get a sense if this is a decent starter rack. As time and finance allows, I'd like to swap out the mil-surp pins with better ones, and fill in the gaps. There's snow where I'd like to go now, so I've got time to work on it.

chossy pins Submitted By: johnnyrig on Jan 13, 2013

Leave the iron and bolt kit behind. Put some loops on the BD cams that allow you to clip in short. Shorten the loop on your fifi, and avoid using it when possible.

Edit: Just looked at your pic. Girth hitch your fifi to your waist belt/leg loops instead of your belay loop. That will bring you closer to your aid piece. And definitely leave the iron behind and work with natural protection as much as possible.

a pair of brass nutts

A Fish haulbag!!!

grappling hook
ipod
PBR
beef jerky

dmm offset brassies

Right here Hoss...

www.ebay.com/itm/300845176338?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trk>>>

get some hooks, lose a bunch of those pins. i havent seen a pin rack that big since i first saw that pic of Robbins in Camp 4 sipping coffee racking up for the Salathe's first ascent. You might need some pins, but I doubt you'll need that many.

offset cams, 3 each in the tiny cams (black alien to yellow alien-ish sizing) will go a long way for you.

Those adjustable daisies look cool. Looks like they got their inspiration from a set of parts store tie downs. Say... couldn't I just...? Just kidding! Maybe... But... Nooooo.

Not all the pins will go. Most are the soft iron surplus stuff that I figure I'll use up in practice.

Natural pro is great, and I hope to be using that and free climbing out. But I'm going to probably end up leaving some fixed gear, and would rather it be some of the cheap surplus pins as opposed to expensive stuff. I'll try the shorter girth hitch, maybe get a second fifi or a short tether of some kind.

Offsets are probably not in my budget yet, but I'll keep my eyes open. I love fleabay. Can't afford anything else until around March, maybe.

So far, the biggest challenge seems to be finding a crazy partner or getting one of my friends up to speed. chuckle

If your playing on granite or anything not soft you will want some leepers/ cam-hooks; very good in the valley. Agreed with the comment on use free gear whenever possible.

Modern clean climbing ethic.

... vs... Sport climbing bolt ethic? Why make this into that kind of thread?

Oh, I get it... I'm doing something you wouldn't and don't approve of.
Nice.

I already came here and other sites looking for partners and people to teach me the "ethics" along with the style and method.

I'll be leaving with a clear impression that none of you can agree on what that "ethic" is really all about. Sport climbers are not boulderers are not trad climbers are not gym climbers.

I'm not on your route. I'm not at your crag. I'm probably not going to run into you at the gym. At least half of you think I'm out of my mind anyway. So what are you worried about again? The rock? The one that hasn't seen a climber on it for at least a decade, if ever? The fish in the stream that are going to all suffocate and die from one guy with a goldpan on the weekend in the middle of nowhere?

No, I think you judge me an idiot and a troll. While modern soloists scale the big walls of Yosemite and you call them heroes, anyone who plummets off a crag off top-rope and dies gets labelled a noob and a moron, while still you spout your "ethic" in merely a single sentence paraphrase.

Thanks for your opinions. Really. Shall I just crawl back in my cave now? I'm sure there's a club lying around somewhere...

Let's be clear. I want the right gear to help me out of sticky situations, should I end up in a bad place. I'm asking about aid gear and such and trying to learn how it's used to save my ass. I already have the clean gear. I already intend to use it. Going up and coming down is different than rapping in and climbing out. Oh wait, you're a climber. Do you DO canyons?

Try more than a single sentence, eh? Perhaps you'll get me to think about it.

How high is the pitch you are planning on aiding? Make sure you have the proper gear and knowledge to self resuce out there. Practice tying knots and rappelling with only one hand (not your dominant) so if you do hit trouble you'll be ready.

You need cigarettes and beer.

Yeah sorry for the rant. It,s frustrating to not have a regular partner, or anyone with experience for that matter. At this stage It,s mostly self-taught from books. I,ve got a lot of theory down, practice tying knots, rigging and such pretty regular. unloaded a thousand pound lathe from my truck with it, but knot the climbing rope.

Short of being knocked unconcious I should be able to retreat and or self rescue. It just won,t be fast. I do everythng slow. Which is in itself a potential threat.

Where we went and looked down, the drop was about 250 ft, with possible alternate routes. From there it gets steeper and drops farther. Probly a mix of limestone and schist. What,s visible on google earth shows potential for 700 slabby feet back up to the truck at one point should a guy travel further down. So yeah, lots of potential for good climbing, pure choss, and epic disaster. Probly wont even find any damn gold.

Anyway, I recognize the clean climbing ethic, the fact that clean is often faster than aid, and the fact that what I do reflects on anyone else as a "climber". I don't much care for single-line judgements. It seemed inflamatory. What I'm looking for in this post are ideas on what might be missing from a decent aid rack, and maybe a few tips on using it should the need arise.

Maybe the whole thing can be done free. Then again, maybe I'll end up over my head and need to aid through 20-30 feet, maybe a pitch or two. Leaving gear behind, besides running contrary to the clean ethic.. would just be too damn expensive.

So now I see... I could use a few hooks, some more peckers, and more practice using them. It's a learning process.

Some people want to climb the captain. Some want to grid bolt the world. I like going places nobody has ever been, to an extent. And so I'd like to be prepared.
Thanks